Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: News

A DeKalb police officer guards the scene outside Cole Hall, a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University, on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008, in DeKalb, Illinois. A man opened fire with a shotgun and a handgun wounding several people before apparently killing himself, authorities said. (Alex Garcia/Chicago Tribune/MCT)

To read the main story on the NIU shooting, click here.

To view information on the victims of the NIU shooting, click here.



Eastern's safety procedures were under review before Thursday's shooting at Northern Illinois University, said Eastern President Bill Perry.

"We have been evaluating our procedures here," he said.

These evaluations resulted in the decision to add two more sirens as part of the Emergency Notification System. The revamped system will also give students, faculty and staff the option to subscribe to a text messaging service that would send out emergency notifications.

Eastern is currently reviewing the security of its classrooms as well, Perry said.

Perry said university campuses have typically been open and accessible so students, staff, faculty and community members could to participate in university life.

"That openness and accessibility has always presented risks," Perry said "Universities have generally done an excellent job of managing those risks."

Perry said Eastern would continue to test the safety systems and develop procedures to enhance the safety and security of Eastern's campus.

In the event of a shooting, any buildings that are evacuated would be done by the director of law enforcement or public safety officials.

"Unless otherwise directed, the buildings would be evacuated by the same routes and procedures as for fire or other emergency evacuations," Perry said. "Once clear of the building, individuals would go to a location as directed by law enforcement and university personnel."

Dan Nadler, vice president for student affairs, said Eastern's safety protocols are contingent on the location and the nature of an emergency.

With any emergency the Emergency Notification System would be implemented.

The ENS consists of a siren/public address system with a pulse tone, followed by a public address message. The pulse tone notifies students to check their Eastern email accounts. The email message will provide information about the emergency, and finally a phone tree would be used to notify key individuals in departments and programs on campus about information they should post for the public

The Emergency Management Team, comprised of university officials, would be activated and essential staff would be contacted to assist with the emergency, Nadler said.

"Eastern has been very proactive about the safety and security of its students, faculty and staff," Nadler said. "This approach has allowed the university to make significant campus safety improvements over the past several years."



Housing's safety plan

Communication is a key component of the Housing and Dining safety plan.

If a shooting happened on Eastern's campus, Housing and Dining services would use the Campus ENS to alert housing residences as quickly as possible.

Housing also has the Housing Emergency Announcement System, which is a fire alarm system in Andrews Hall that allows housing to make emergency announcements that can be broadcast to every student room and common areas, said Mark Hudson, director of housing and dining services.

Douglas and Lawson halls will have this feature by summer.

Professional building staff and Residence Assistants are required to use their Eastern email account so that official communication can reach staff quickly, Hudson said.

Two-way radios are available at each desk if the phone or Internet is not available and all professional staff on duty carries university provided cell phones.

Hudson said since every situation is different, it is impossible to provide staff with a specific policy for every possible scenario.

"They would use their best judgment to minimize the risk to students," he said.

Hudson said if an incident occurred inside a residence hall, Housing would most likely send out a message telling students to stay in their rooms and lock their doors.

"Our first priority would be to try and make sure no one is in line with danger," he said.

Another major part of the Housing safety plan is limiting access to the buildings.

Stairwell and floor doors are locked 24 hours a day and residents must use a key to their floor to gain access. All Exterior doors to residence halls are locked at midnight. From midnight to 4 a.m., student security staff are in the residence hall lobbies monitoring who comes and goes. The assistants carry two-way radios and are in communication with the UPD, Hudson said.



Charleston Police Department

Mark Jenkins, interim Charleston police chief, said if a shooter enters a building and begins shooting, the situation is usually over within five to ten minutes when ammunition is entirely expended or the shooter takes their own life.

If a shooter were to enter an Eastern building or even a local school, the first responder to the scene would be a patrol officer and not the SWAT team, which many people think.

Usually the department has between four and six officers on duty, Jenkins said.

Charleston, along with the University, belongs to a local Crisis Response Team, where four officers from each department respond to any crisis situation.

The Mattoon Police Department and the Coles County Sheriff's Office also belong to the team.

Assembly would take at least 30 minutes at best, Jenkins said.

"…The truth of the matter is that it will be patrol officers that will be thrust into the midst of the crisis, as most of these incidents have historically shown are over with in a matter of minutes," Jenkins said.

Officers in Charleston train in First Responders/Active Shooter where officers train in a shooting at a school or a work environment.

"This training takes the realistic approach that the number one priority to a situation like this is to neutralize the shooter as quickly as possible, and realistically even in a small community like this," Jenkins said.

A few officers in the department are instructors in active-shooter response, he added.

Last fall, officers trained at Charleston High School and the department is currently working with Charleston School District officials to complete an active-shooter drill while school is in session.

Students would participate in the drill, including evacuating the school.

Equipped in all Charleston squad cars are semi-automatic M-4 assault rifles, which officers would probably respond with.

All officers have been certified with the M-4, Jenkins said.

Besides the M-4, squad cars have 12-gauge pump action shotguns and their standard sidearms.

With the 2009 budget for the Charleston Police Department, the department plans to stock all squad cars with "response bags."

The bags would contain Kevlar helmets, flash bangs, a first aid kit and a ballistic shield, Jenkins said.

The bag would also have hooligan tools, which would include crowbars, wire cutters and other tools to get inside a building if someone barricaded his or herself in.



Communication

When a shooting happens on a college campus, thousands of terrified parents want information about their children. Eastern has a crisis communication plan which involves press, web, phone, radio and television in order to get information to the public in a timely manner.

If a shooting happened at Eastern, Jill Nilsen, vice president for external relations, would use the crisis communication phone tree to move her team into action.

Nilsen oversees University Communications and WEIU TV and radio.

"Each person on that team works to ensure that accurate information is available to both internal and external constituents," Nilsen said.



Reaching out to NIU

Nadler said he and other Eastern administrators had sent condolences to the NIU community.

Nadler contacted NIU's vice president for student affairs.

Sandy Cox, director of the counseling center, contacted the NIU director of counseling.

Perry contacted higher education leaders in the state.

"We have offered our condolences and assistance," Nadler said.

Eastern is sending two counselors to Dekalb to assist with grief counseling, and later this week plans will begin at Eastern for memorial activities to honor the students lost at NIU, Nadler said.

Eastern is offering personal and group counseling to students affected by the shooting at NIU. Nadler said the counseling center is responding to many phone calls and emails from students.

The Counseling Center can be reached at 581-3413.

After regular hours, the Counseling Center emergency line can be reached at 217-348-2909.



-City Editor Matt Hopf contributed to this report



Factbox:

If a shooting happens at Eastern, Eastern President Bill Perry says students should:

• If the shooter is not in your building, try to be "safe in place" by locking the doors and windows, getting away from windows, and calling 911. Remember our university police are trained in active shooter response. Do not leave until instructed to do so by university police or other university officials.

• If the shooter is inside your building, but not in the room you occupy, try to be "safe in place" as described above. If circumstances indicate to you that it is not possible to be "safe in place" you may have to try to exit the building.

• In any event, if law enforcement personnel are on site, follow their instructions.

• If the shooter is in your classroom, there are risks involved with any action you take. How you respond will depend on many factors that you will have to assess rather quickly, such as the locations of exits (doors, windows), your location in the room, and the level of threat presented by the behavior of the armed person.

• You should take the action you believe at the time gives you the best chance for your survival.

• If you have a cell phone and can dial 911, do so. If it is dangerous to speak, silence the phone; 911 personnel can hear what is happening. If you flee, once you are to safety, call 911 to report the incident and its location.

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